Out of Control
by showichi
Summary: She was all at once the victim, the villain, and everything in between. The only thing missing from her story was the hero. Bakugou x OC x Todoroki
1. welcome to your hero academia

_"He who fights with monsters should look to it that he himself does not become a monster,"_ had recited the woman who'd given up on the world. _"And if you gaze too long into an abyss, the abyss also gazes into you."_

These words were the lullaby by which Miyaka Sesera fell asleep to, engraved onto her memory night after night since the day she got her Quirk. Until fairly recently, they were just the ravings of a madwoman who had failed to become a Hero, and she had sworn long ago that she would become nothing like her mother.

But after seeing the Number 1 Hero in action, she couldn't help but see some truth in those words.

All Might stood at the forefront, with nothing but the infinite chasm of evil he faced reflected in his eyes. He teetered on the edge of the abyss, his back to the people he'd vowed to protect.

She didn't want to become something like _that_ either, and yet here she was.

The proverbial battlefield that was Yuuei High School's entrance exam was chaos magnified to the extreme. Millions of hopefuls from all across the country—from all across the _world_ —wanted to get a spot in its famed Hero Course to further their aspirations of becoming, well, a _Hero_.

And yet it was all too clear that they were in over their heads. A large bulk of the applicants couldn't even take down one of the Villain robots they were put up against, and the onsite proctors had a lot of work cut out for them in pulling out the injured. With a trial that focused so much on combat ability, it was obvious that they weren't really looking for people who had the potential to become truly great Heroes.

They just wanted to weed out the weak from the strong.

Flicking her wrist, a whip of blue-white lightning stretched from the foot-long metal baton in Sesera's hand, ripping through the air. The bunch of speedy one-pointers looking to blitz her stopped in their tracks, their systems fried to the point of no recovery. Dark smoke slipped from the joints of their plate covers, sparking with flashes of light.

She'd long stopped counting her points, fully aware that she was going to pass this test whether she wanted to or not. Telling someone with a Quirk like Electromagnetic Force to take down robots was basically a one-sided massacre waiting to happen.

Walking through the ruined streets, Sesera noticed that a handful of applicants had opted out of fighting the robots and instead put their efforts into rescuing the less fortunate, assisting the proctors in retrieving the wounded.

 _Ah. There's that, I guess._ Sesera didn't glance back at the ponytailed redhead who received a pat on the shoulder from one of the proctors for helping them get a bunch of kids out from under a piece of rubble.

All things considered, it came as no surprise that Yuuei was twisted enough to convert human lives to points as well.

 _"You mustn't become like that."_

Sesera blinked, and the back of a blonde woman in red and white armor flashed before her—an image that was burned onto the back of her eyelids. Invisible hands held her back, stopping her from moving forward and strangling the breath out of her.

 _"You..._ _ **mus**_ _—bec—e_ li _..._ _ **ke**_ _th—_ aat _."_

.

.

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 _ **i.**_ **welcome to your hero academia**

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Yuuei High School's façade was the same intimidating work of steel, glass, and straight lines that it was when Sesera last came here. It'd been the cusp of winter back then, and the trees lining the pathway had been as close to barren and dead as they could get. Those same trees were now overflowing with vibrant cherry blossoms, but spring did not make the school look any less threatening in her eyes.

Students of all shapes and sizes were loitering on the grounds as she walked into the campus. Sesera could easily pick out the first years twittering about like sore thumbs, and they did not mix well with the tangible anti-hero vibe from some of the upperclassmen. She made her way into the main building before any of them could notice her, heading towards her new classroom.

With help from the downloadable map app she'd gotten from the school's website, Sesera quickly found the torture chamber she'd be spending most of next year in. She stopped by the door for a few brief seconds, steeling herself before entering.

There was a gaggle of students already inside. Her pink eyes roved over the classroom once to inspect the people to be tormented alongside her.

The first one she took notice of was another electricity-user like her—blond, and based on the electric field around him, a straightforward power-type. Despite being one of the most common Quirk classes, rarely were electricity-users able meet the power levels demanded in Hero work.

This boy looked to have a decent maximum output so she supposed his presence here was justifiable.

Another blond was also distinguishable as an electric-type, as well as the invisible girl sitting at the back. Though their Quirks seemed to lean more towards the subcategory of light manipulation, their electric fields were still prominent enough that Sesera felt a sort of kinship.

One would think that four electric-types in the same class seemed a bit much, but considering the wide disparity in their predilections, the school's staff seemed to have thought out the class roster carefully.

Spotting a sheet of paper posted by the blackboard, Sesera walked over to take a look. It was the seating arrangement, and since her student number was near the end of the list, her spot looked to be the second-to-the-last seat along the far wall.

She headed to her appointed place, and the black-haired girl occupying the desk behind hers gave out a polite smile as she approached.

"Good morning." The black-haired girl spoke with a refined edge in her language, and her sitting posture was perfect. "My name is Yaoyorozu Momo. It's a pleasure to meet you."

"Miyaka Sesera. Likewise." Sesera hung her bag on the hook on the side of the desk, pulling out the chair and smoothing down the back of her skirt before sitting down.

To her right was a bored-looking boy with white and red hair, and in the seat in front of her was a much smaller boy with purple balls on his head. The two desks at the front of the row were yet to be occupied.

There were ten-odd people currently in the room, and with twenty seats to fill, there was still about half the headcount to wait for. It was fairly early, and the two boys sitting around her didn't look interested in conversation so Sesera turned in her seat, resting her arm on the back of her chair.

"Yaoyorozu-san, which middle school did you come from?"

The black-haired girl seemed a bit surprised at her sudden question, but she smiled sincerely, closing the book she'd been occupied with.

"I'm from Himegasawa Girls Academy," she replied. If Sesera recalled correctly, it was one of the leading schools for the daughters of influential persons, rearing young ladies for their societal debuts since a century ago—or something like it. In any case, it certainly did suit Yaoyorozu's image. "What about you, Miyaka-san?"

"Ah, it's a small school way out in the country," Sesera answered without pause, waving the matter off. "You definitely won't know it. I was born in Ehime."

"You've come a long way," Yaoyorozu commented, eyes widening. "Is this the first time you've been away from home?"

"Pretty much. I'm kind of nervous about it, to be honest." She looked around the classroom, "Everyone here managed to pass Yuuei's high standards. You're all really amazing."

"You did as well," Yaoyorozu said with a smile. "I'm sure your Quirk is just as wonderful."

She'd never thought of it as such. "I bet your Quirk is great as well."

"It's not all that," the black-haired girl replied, modestly waving a hand in front of her face. "And I'm nowhere close to being able to realize its full potential."

"But," Sesera started, resting her chin in her palm, "that's why we're all here, isn't it?"

At that moment, the door to the classroom was thrown open with a resounding bang, and by the entrance stood a sloppily dressed delinquent with sharp eyes that looked down on everyone.

His arrival had silenced the room, and everyone watched his prideful strut with cautious looks.

"Please be a little more considerate of your surroundings." A broad-shouldered boy with glasses came forward, "Your entrance has disturbed everyone. And there was no need to open the door like that. What if you had broken it?"

The glasses boy was much larger than him, but to his credit, the delinquent didn't back down one inch.

"The hell should I care about some two-bit extras?" the delinquent spoke roughly, and the boy with glasses looked righteously offended by his reply. "I'm going to be the Number 1 Hero, and I'll blow over you second-rate wannabes these next three years."

For someone wanting to be a Hero, he certainly had a mouth on him. If nothing else, his brusqueness did remind her of the current Number 2.

 _Speaking of the Number 2 Hero..._ Sesera only realized now, but from where she sat, her seat neighbor's profile reminded her of the Flame Hero. The hair and eye colors were perfectly the same.

The boy she was observing turned to her, white strands falling over a cold gray eye.

"What?"

Asking if he was related to Endeavor was probably a bit much. She was a fan so she knew that he had several children—his youngest even being her age—but considering that painful-looking scar on his face, asking if he could get her an autograph might not be a good idea.

She tried defusing the situation.

Putting on a pleasant smile, she introduced herself, "I'm Miyaka Sesera. What's your name?"

"...Todoroki Shouto." He turned away from her almost immediately after giving his name, obviously exuding an aura of 'don't talk to me.'

His offish manner was unsurprising, if not a bit unpleasant. Sesera turned back to face Yaoyorozu, who had a strained but kind of amused smile on her face as she watched the interaction.

Scrounging for another topic, Sesera asked, "What are your hobbies, Yaoyorozu-san?"

"Oh, I—"

"What on earth are you doing!? Put your feet down at once!"

Yaoyorozu was interrupted by Glasses' loud exclamation, and Sesera turned her head just in time to see the boy in question zip speedily across the classroom. He stopped at the desk at the very front of her row, where the delinquent had comfily settled himself into.

He was leaning back, balancing on the hind legs of his chair with both feet crossed at the ankles right on top of the desk.

The high-strung boy with glasses was gesturing wildly with his hands, spouting some nonsense about respecting the previous occupants and makers of the desk the delinquent had put his dirty feet on.

Glasses desperately needed to chill, but the delinquent's taunting comebacks weren't of any help. Their banter was amusing though, and looking at how everyone's attention was zoned in on them, they were likely thinking something along the same line.

Their squabble broke up when they caught sight of the newcomer at the door. A curly-haired boy with a bright yellow backpack stood stiffly as Glasses zipped his way across the classroom once more.

"Most everyone seems to have arrived. Homeroom should be starting soon," Yaoyorozu said, glancing at the watch on her wrist. "I wonder what kind of person our advisor is like..."

Sesera shrugged lightly. "I suppose we'll find out soon enough."

There was a fleeting wave of whispers in the classroom, and when she turned her eyes toward the door, Sesera's blood ran cold. She squirmed in her seat, trying to make herself as sparse as possible.

At the door, Pro Hero Eraserhead wiggled out of his bright yellow sleeping bag, dressed all in pitch black. His messy hair and dull gaze didn't make him seem like an impressive person, but Sesera couldn't help but flinch when his eyes met hers while he was surveying the class.

Anti-Quirk abilities were rare, and Eraserhead was one of the best in what he did. It didn't come as a surprise to her that someone like him was in charge of a class full of fledgling monsters, but she still shivered at the thought of him.

"It took you all eight seconds to quiet down," he grumbled out, voice low and scratchy. "Time is precious. There's no rational basis in wasting it away. My name is Aizawa Shouta, and I'll be your homeroom advisor."

He pulled out a packaged set of gym clothes from his sleeping bag, thrusting it at the curly-haired boy who stood closest to him.

"Hurry up and change into your gym clothes," he told them. "There should be a set for each of you in your lockers. Then gather at the athletic field."

With those obtuse orders, he left the room while dragging his feet and sleeping bag. No one in the class moved, likely still in a shock induced by their apparent homeroom teacher's words.

The delinquent was the first to react. He rose from his seat noisily, the legs of his chair scratching against the floor. He walked down the aisle with his hands in his pockets, heading for the numbered cubbyholes at the back of the room. He stopped in front of number 16, snatching up the set of gym clothes that had been placed inside.

Following him, the others stood up to get their own uniforms as well. Numbers 19 and 20 were right behind Yaoyorozu's seat, and she didn't even need to take two steps to reach them.

"Here you go," Yaoyorozu spoke, handing Sesera her set. "Shall we then, Miyaka-san?"

"I'm right behind you," Sesera replied.

The two of them exited the classroom, and they headed towards the locker room together.

"What do you think Aizawa-sensei will be having us do?" Yaoyorozu questioned.

Sesera shrugged slightly. "Since he's having us change into PE uniforms, it might be some sort of physical test."

"I thought the same," Yaoyorozu said with a quick nod. "Though considering this is Yuuei, it would likely have something to do with our Quirks in particular."

She was highly likely to be correct. This school was infamous for its 'anything goes' policy, and Eraserhead didn't seem like the sort of person to beat around the bush.

Sesera was not especially looking forward to what their homeroom teacher was planning.

After changing into their PE uniforms, they met up with Eraserhead at the track oval, where he was pointedly staring at the large clock that decorated the face of the main building. Once he was sure they were all gathered, he announced what they would be doing.

"We'll be having a Quirk Appraisal Test."

Back during middle school, all students went through physical ability tests that were collated into nationally standardized metrics, but 'in the spirit of fairness,' Quirk usage was expressly forbidden. Now, Eraserhead was telling them to go ahead and use their Quirks in these tests.

Essentially, this was a diagnostic to see what they were truly capable of.

Still, the activities he enumerated were obviously biased against anti-personnel and support-type Quirks like his. After all the complaining he did about the Ministry of Education's policies, Sesera thought he would've been a bit less orthodox.

If he was trying to push the point that Quirks made people different from each other, then bundling together all the people with Quirks and setting a group standard for _them_ wasn't solving the big problem either. Then again, despite Yuuei's so-called 'freedom,' because of the very nature of Heroics, it was bound to follow the government's lead.

For a demonstration, Eraserhead called up someone as a guinea pig.

"Bakugou, you took first place in the Hero Course's entrance exam. How far could you throw in middle school?"

The spiky-haired boy who'd had his feet up on the desk was the one who answered, "67 meters."

Eraserhead pointed him towards a circle painted on the ground and tossed him a metal ball.

"Try using your Quirk this time around," their teacher directed. "You can do anything as long as you don't step out of the circle. Don't hold back."

The delinquent took the ball and stepped up, rolling his shoulder to warm it up. In a few moments, he was winding up in the middle of the circle, pitching the ball forward and up.

"DIIIEEE!"

Sesera squinted, covering her nose and mouth with one hand. Her other one she waved around in a feeble attempt to blow off the dirt and dust that formed a brown cloud around them.

The delinquent seemed to have turned himself into a fire cannon, and with the strength of that explosion, she wouldn't be surprised if he'd destroyed the ball in the process.

"Holy crap," another spiky-haired boy near the front exclaimed his awe.

"Before anything else, all of you need to know what you're capable of," Eraserhead stated, holding out a palm-sized phablet. _705.2m_ flashed brightly on its screen. "That's the rational first step to figuring out what kinds of Heroes you'll be."

His words lit a flame under the rest of the class, and they burst into enthusiastic cheers, eager to show off what they could do. The air vibrated with their excitement, but upon seeing the narrowed slits Eraserhead's eyes had been reduced to, Sesera decided to lie low.

"It looks _fun_ , you say? So you were planning on spending the three years you have in this school just having a good time?" he questioned, and the ones who were previously overflowing with excitement froze up. The sudden mood change would've been enough to give her whiplash on a bad day. "What happened to becoming Heroes?"

The aura he was exuding was terrifying, and Sesera scooted over a bit to the left to hide behind the six-armed boy, making sure to position herself outside of Eraserhead's line of sight.

"Fine then, new rule: the student who ranks last will be judged 'hopeless' and instantly expelled," Eraserhead decreed, and the tension that rippled through the class was tangible. "The freedom of Yuuei also allows us teachers to dispense with students as we please.

"Welcome to the Department of Heroics!"

.

The first event was a 50-meter dash, and Sesera took it as a chance to examine the Quirks of her new classmates.

Overall, Endeavor Jr. and the delinquent were the obvious high rollers. Bird Boy also made her list of people to watch, with a Quirk that was both powerful and interesting enough to catch her curiosity. Glasses' Engine was not quite novel, but it was functional and reliable, as thoroughbred for Hero work as they came.

The sparkly blond was equipped with a surprisingly high-tech belt despite the lame concept behind his ability. It looked to be a general Quirk-support item like her regulator instead of some sort of enhancer, so she had to wonder about the real nature of his power. Sesera's exposure to people her age was limited, so she sort of wanted to be able to talk about it with him, but...

 _His... sparkliness... makes him kind of hard to approach..._

The other power-type electricity-user didn't even attempt to use his Quirk. From what Sesera could tell, his maximum output was over a million volts so he should have plenty of power to spare. The fact that he didn't implied that he had some sort of control issue like her. In any case, he seemed like he would be easier to talk to than Sparkles, so she figured she could try to approach him later.

Everyone else's Quirks tiptoed the line between useful depending on the situation and meh.

Still, they'd definitely gone all out in showcasing their Quirks in this first event, and the level of flashy had been astounding. Motivation seemed high despite Eraserhead's threat of expulsion hanging in the air—or maybe it was because of it.

In truth, Sesera had never really been fond of using her Quirk, and she had half a mind to just take the opportunity presented and intentionally flunk out. But even though she'd never considered herself to be a prideful person, it was hard to ignore the honest determination that came rolling off of her new classmates in waves.

The feeling of wanting to prove oneself was nothing new to her, but having it envelope her so thoroughly—and with this level of intensity—was something she hadn't experienced before.

It made a shiver run down her spine, and she instinctively wanted to puke.

Sesera and Yaoyorozu were the last pair to come up. The black-haired girl had proven herself in possession of quite the interesting Quirk as well, somehow producing a pair of roller skates from virtually nothing. She stood by the starting block with her arms held behind her, and it seemed like she planned on using some sort of propelling force to move her forward.

The light on the bot by the finish line flashed red, giving them a few seconds to prepare.

"Three, two, one... Go!"

Yaoyorozu sped ahead by producing a pair of metal pipes from her palms, boosting herself to the finish line with the force of their manifestation.

"4.08 seconds!" the robot trilled once Yaoyorozu passed it, beeping once more as Sesera crossed the line. "6.37 seconds!"

Her score put her in at around thirteenth or so, and Sesera figured it was good enough. She could've used electricity to give her muscles a bit of a performance boost, but more so than going into battle mode, coming down from it was bothersome.

This was still only just a school thing, and she'd rather spare herself the trouble.

Before long, Eraserhead called on everyone to gather in the gym. "Next up is the grip strength measure."

The class was divided into groups of four, and five digital dynamometers were distributed among them. Yaoyorozu took charge of recording their group's score on the index card Eraserhead had handed them.

The small boy who sat in front of Sesera in class went first, turning up with a surprising 48kg result. She didn't expect it from someone his size, but it looked like he had a pretty solid grip.

Seaweed Head had been concentrating very hard as he took hold of the dynamometer, and once he was done, the display showed _56kg_.

He didn't look very happy at the result despite being above average. Based on what she'd seen so far, a lot of the girls and a fair number of the boys would score lower than him so he wasn't really in much trouble. It was only the second event, and he hadn't really gotten an opportunity to use his Quirk yet, whatever it was.

By the time he was done, Sesera was still debating whether or not to go through with her plan to take first place in this activity, so she bid Yaoyorozu to take her turn before her.

Passing her the pen and card, the black-haired girl began unzipping her top.

"I'm not complaining, but what is she doing?" the small boy asked casually as Seaweed Head covered his face with his hands and let out a short shriek.

"Well..."

Before long, Yaoyorozu had pulled out an industry-grade clamp from her stomach and recorded a whopping 1200kg.

"Is that allowed?" the small boy dubiously asked their teacher as he passed by.

"I'll allow it," Eraserhead replied lazily, hands shoved deep into his pockets. His eyes turned to Sesera, and she held her breath at his gaze. "We don't have all day here, Miyaka. Get to it."

All things considered, there was a very effective and rather simple way for her to ace this entire sham of a test, even though it kind of defeated the point of taking it. This particular event was just the easiest way to show it off without being overtly unfair.

The only thing holding her back had been whether or not she dared with Pro Hero Eraserhead supervising. But seeing how easily he allowed Yaoyorozu's cheat, she figured she could go for it.

"Here you go, Miyaka-san." Yaoyorozu had zipped her jacket back up, and she held out the device for Sesera to take.

Before she had a chance to change her mind, Sesera took the dynamometer into her hand and sent a short shock of electricity through it.

The digital display lighted up. It beeped and Sesera held out the device, screen up.

 _9999kg_

"Amazing!" Seaweed Head exclaimed, wide eyes fixed on the numbers on the screen. "How'd you do that!?"

"Manipulation of technology through electricity, huh?" Yaoyorozu was the first one to understand what happened. "What a versatile Quirk in today's world."

"It's not that amazing," Sesera replied noncommittally. "Over half the Electromaster population goes into electronics."

"That's gotta be cheating," the small boy stared up at her with narrowed eyes that were directed nowhere near her face.

Unflinchingly, Eraserhead took the index card Yaoyorozu handed him, punching in their scores on his phablet. "I'll allow it."

He was a lot more lax about it than Sesera thought he'd be, and she let out a silent breath. Still, she wasn't up to pushing her luck against an opponent who could literally kill her with a single look, so she decided to lie low for the next few events.

Once all the groups had finished, Eraserhead collected their scores and shooed everyone out into the field once more.

Even though she took first place in the second event by a landslide, Sesera loafed about during the next couple tests to keep a low profile. Yaoyorozu and her ingenuity did not drop below third in any event, and Endeavor Jr. and the delinquent consistently ranked high. Glasses and Bird Boy were also honorable mentions.

Sesera figured she'd be hovering somewhere along the upper tens.

For the fifth event, they went back to the middle of the field for the ball throwing activity. A lot of people were able to show off, but Gravity Girl took the cake early on with an almost unbelievable score of infinity. She wasn't really able to display it much in the previous events, but looking at it now, it was actually a pretty interesting ability.

Most everyone got fairly good scores for the event, and the delinquent even managed to add some distance to his earlier try.

The curly-haired boy came up after him, looking like he was on the verge of a panic attack as he stepped into the circle. He hadn't really done anything special yet, so she was beginning to wonder what kind of Quirk he had.

Off to the front of their pack, she heard Glasses murmur concernedly, "Hm, Midoriya isn't doing so well..."

"Well, duh. He's a Quirkless runt!"

The statement caught Sesera's attention, and she immediately turned her head. Looking at how furrowed the delinquent's eyebrows were, he didn't seem to be lying. Still, Quirklessness was a fairly rare case in this day and age, and she hadn't expected to hear about it again in Yuuei, of all places.

Not to mention that it begged the question: if that was the case, then how'd Seaweed Head get into Yuuei in the first place?

"Quirkless? So you didn't hear about his feats during the entrance exam?" Glasses wildly gestured with his arms. Beside him, Gravity Girl nervously twiddled with her fingers, her eyes fixed on the aforementioned curly-haired boy.

Returning her attention to the front, Sesera scrutinized the boy who stood in the middle of the circle, mumbling to himself. He took a deep breath as he stared at the ball in his hands. Raising his left foot, he twisted his body as he prepared to throw.

There was a prickle in the air, and she could sense a massive power that accumulated into Seaweed Head's right arm as he extended it backwards before flinging it forward in a wide arc.

She didn't know what that delinquent was talking about. Seaweed Head totally had a Quirk.

"46 meters."

The mechanic voice announced the result of Seaweed Head's throw, and Sesera blinked, turning her gaze to their teacher.

"I erased your Quirk," Eraserhead spoke with a heavy sigh, pushing back the hair that covered his face. The scarf around his neck had loosened, floating in loops around him. Slitted goggles rested around his neck, and Seaweed Head let out a gasp, recognizing the trademark equipment.

"You're the Erasure Hero, Eraserhead!" the curly-haired boy exclaimed, the look on his face somewhere between awe and dismay.

"I saw how you couldn't control your Quirk during the entrance exams. You'd just be incapacitated again if you do the same thing," Eraserhead said coldly, approaching him with wide steps. "Were you thinking that someone would once more step in to help afterwards?"

So his Quirk came with a severe rebound? It wasn't unheard of, and Sesera herself was in a similar predicament. But Quirks going out of control was one of the top three dangers their current society faced, and the nine years of mandatory elementary and middle school education was, in part, dedicated to helping children learn to control their abilities through whatever means necessary.

By their age, people would've already achieved a certain modicum of control, especially those who aspired to be Heroes. Seaweed Head's situation would make more sense if he rarely used it because of the rebound, but he didn't hesitate at all in trying to use it just now.

"N-No, it's not like that—!" Seaweed Head was cut short when Eraserhead's scarf wrapped around him, and he was pulled forward.

"Whatever you're planning," Eraserhead spoke, looking the boy in right in the eye, "it would have inconvenienced those around you. If you're totally useless after saving just one person, then there's no way you can become a Hero."

 _"You mustn't become like that."_

Sesera closed her eyes, pinching the bridge of her nose.

"I've given you your Quirk back. You have one last shot," Eraserhead told the curly-haired boy. "Let's get this over with."

Once again, Seaweed Head was left alone in the circle. He gripped the ball tightly, his head hanging as he muttered to himself.

Now that she thought about it, he'd had a particularly pained expression on his face all this time. He was clearly trying his best, but for some reason, it looked like he was having a hard time getting his Quirk under control.

In that sense, she could sort of empathize with him.

Breathing in deeply, Seaweed Head took wide steps forward. His left foot dug into the ground at the very edge of the circle as he swung his arm down.

There was that massive amount of energy flowing through him once more, and Sesera nearly shivered at the torrential force that he was trying to fit into one small finger.

If there was any aspect of her Quirk that felt close to a blessing, it was the ability to cut herself off from her pain receptors. It was something she'd started doing out of necessity to be able to even use her Quirk, and, eventually, turning off her nociception became an involuntary action for her.

She knew—a bit better than others—how to recognize pain.

 _That's going to hurt, and it's going to hurt a lot._

That said, the split-second finesse Midoriya Izuku showed was beautiful, and his timing was nothing short of perfect. His finger was on the ball until the very last second, and as it slipped away, he imparted it with every ounce of power his body had generated.

The ball flew into the distance until it was nothing but a speck. Predictably, Seaweed Head's forefinger was a stinging red, his entire arm trembling as he bit his lip.

Even so, he threw a victorious smile at their teacher, teeth gritting as he proudly claimed, "I... can still move!"

 _Not for too long_ , Sesera surmised, impassively estimating how much pain he was biting back. He might've proven himself, but he wasn't going to leave any more good marks in the state he was in.

At this rate, he was still going to end up the bottom feeder, and she had no doubt that Eraserhead was the sort of person who did good on his words.

But Midoriya Izuku showed his grit just now and the expression that had appeared on the Pro Hero's face was clearly impressed. Even if he did land in last place, their teacher would likely wave the expulsion off as a joke or something.

 _Well, maybe not quite a_ joke...

Sesera was brought out of her thoughts when the delinquent suddenly dashed forward, flames and sparks spitting from his open palms.

"What the hell!? Explain yourself, Deku!" he demanded as he rushed at Seaweed Head, who screamed bloody murder at the sight of his charge.

Before the delinquent could reach the other boy though, the flames in his hand were whittled down into trailing gray smoke and he was caught in a net of cloth. It was somewhat admirable how he persisted in fighting against his constraints, his hands trembling as he forced his Quirk to come out despite the futility of it.

"Sheesh. Stop using your Quirk already..." Eraserhead grumbled, looking very fed up as he pushed his hair out of his face. "I have dry eye, damn it!"

Once the delinquent backed down, their teacher pulled back his weapon, wrapping it around his neck once more.

"We're wasting time. Who's next?" Eraserhead barked out snippily.

"That's you," Sesera told the small boy who sat in front of her in class, and he immediately ran up to the circle, not eager to further displease their teacher.

He recorded a remarkably lackluster result, especially considering he went right after Seaweed Head's eventful turn. The curly-haired boy still seemed to be stewing in the pain from his finger, and his facial expression was obviously strained as he conversed with Glasses and Gravity Girl.

Once the small boy was done, Sesera stepped up into the circle, catching the new ball Eraserhead had thrown her.

"Make it quick."

Sesera held the ball with both hands, trying to gauge how thick its metal shell was. Railgun mechanics probably wasn't the best choice for a distance-focused test, but she had very few attacks in her repertoire that didn't require an external medium to channel her power through. Other than the grip strength test she basically cheated on, her scores in the other activities were pretty below average. There really wasn't much of a choice if she intended on keeping herself afloat.

She wouldn't be able to get anywhere close to Gravity Girl's infinity score without a miracle, but currently at second place was Endeavor Jr., who had passed the kilometer-mark earlier. As long as she controlled her output well, she could match up to his score.

She was only on normal mode, and with her semiconducting fabric undershirt and gloves on, there shouldn't be much threat of injury.

Still, knowing that Yaoyorozu would likely create an actual, physical cannon after her turn made her want to push herself a bit more. Except, that would be extremely stupid and superbly bothersome. While it was true that a modern supergun could easily shoot something over a hundred kilometers, that was serious overkill.

Besides, though Yaoyorozu was obviously intelligent, Sesera highly doubted that she was all that knowledgeable in heavy artillery.

There were three other events, and third or fourth here was good enough to keep her out of the lower tens in overall ranking.

Sesera held the ball in her open palm, aiming it up an angle. She had to be careful about where she shot, too, since a ball this size was pretty much an artillery shell if launched at the speed of sound.

She slid one foot back to brace for the rebound and made sure to support her outstretched arm with her other hand. Starting from her shoulder, two magnetic currents ran down either side of her arm, pulsating with blue-white cackles of light.

The ball shot forward, becoming a speck in the sky. Yuuei was obscenely huge, so based on her calculations, in the direction she had launched it, it would land in one of the numerous training grounds.

It was an anxious six-second wait before the light on the robot turned green, and its mechanic voice announced her score.

"1187 meters!"

It flew further than she expected it to, to be honest.

"Hoooly crap!" the other spiky-haired boy exclaimed. He threw her a sharp-toothed smile and a thumbs up. "That was seriously manly, Miyaka!"

She blinked at the redhead's words, not quite sure if they were supposed to be taken as a compliment or something else. "Thanks?"

"Whoa, whoa! Hold up!" the other electricity-user came straggling forward with bulging eyes. "Weren't you a hacking-type? What's with that power!?"

"My Quirk is Electromagnetic Force." Sesera summarized concisely, "I can manipulate electrically-charged particles."

"No, no, no!" he vehemently shook his head, holding one hand out. "Hacking into stuff requires like, super delicate work! Fine control of small quantities! Plus, you'll need really specialized knowledge about machines and stuff! They have a completely different skill set from power-types!"

"She seems like she'd be smarter than you, that's for sure," Earlobe Girl commented in a casual tone, and Tape Dispenser Elbows snickered conspicuously.

"But hacking-types and power-types are on total opposite ends of the spectrum!" the other electric-type bordered on whining. "If you have the power to shoot out blasts like that, control at the small-scale gets inversely more difficult! Most Electromasters turn to electronics because only a small portion of us has the power generation ability to be useful at Heroics! They hone their fine control because they don't have anything else going for them! Getting the best of both worlds is totally unfair!"

His impassioned—and admittedly verbose—speech silenced the group of people around them.

"It's... um, a hobby," Sesera lamely made up her excuse. "I... like computer games...?

She could sense that there was true frustration behind his words, but the way he scratched his head and dramatically screamed, " _I'm so jealous!_ " made her second-guess how serious he was being. She wasn't all that sure how to take his forward and honest personality, especially considering she was so used to electric-types being conniving and attention-seeking.

"Even though you're both electricity-users, the two of you use your abilities very differently," Seaweed Head commented, one hand still cradling his injured one. "It's quite interesting to see."

"No two Quirks are exactly the same, and that is why it is called an 'individuality,'" Glasses recited. "Even in my family, while the nature of our abilities are mostly the same, the ways we each use them are quite diverse."

"Ah, that's right," Seaweed Head's face brightened up. "I remember All Might said something similar in an interview once."

She knew what he was referring to, since she'd seen that interview as well.

As bodily functions, Quirks were, in general, hereditary characteristics. Reviewing a child's family background was enough to make an educated guess on what kind of Quirk they could manifest. Sesera's mother was the culmination of a long line of electricity-users, and the sheer output of her Bioelectrogenesis was proof of what power compounded upon power could result in.

Of what generations of human greed could spiral into.

 _"You mustn't become like_ that _."_

Sesera walked toward the back of the group as her classmates continued their animated conversations, their voices buzzing in her ears.

"Doesn't it hurt?"

Sesera blinked, turning her head up to meet Junior's flat expression. His gaze dropped down to where she was rubbing small circles over the length of her forearm, and she suddenly noticed a patch on her sleeve that seemed to stick differently onto her skin.

The familiar kick of the scent of well-done meat hung in the air.

"No, it doesn't," she answered truthfully.

He seemed to weigh her words for a lengthy moment before looking away.

"Is that so."

Sensing that that was the end of their short conversation, Sesera returned her gaze to the front. Inside the circle, Yaoyorozu was assembling the different parts she had produced into a small-scale cannon.

It had a long and thin chase that was most definitely built for distance. It seemed to be a blackpowder model, but considering how the ball had withstood even the delinquent's firepower and her high-speed launch, it'd probably be fine.

Yaoyorozu slipped the ball into the chamber and fired.

 _28.2km_ flashed on the phablet their teacher held out.

The fact that it had changed over to a different unit of measurement cemented just how impressive Yaoyorozu's score was. Even then, the satisfied smile on her face was neither boastful nor smug, but just genuinely pleased with her performance.

It was a refreshing thing to see.

For the next couple of events, they were all herded back inside the gym. After telling them to partner up, Eraserhead handed each pair another index card and pen to write their results in. Everyone was told to stretch and warm up properly with these activities since afterwards, they'd be starting the endurance run immediately.

They finished with the sit-ups and seated toe touches fairly quickly. When time came for the endurance run, Yaoyorozu quickly assembled a functional moped with a full tank of gas, riding it all the way to first place.

Unsurprisingly, Seaweed Head had been the first to drop out, not even finishing two laps before he was forced to quit due to the intense pain from his swollen finger.

In the end, Sesera got fourteenth place, and even though he was dead last, Midoriya Izuku was not expelled. He made a really funny face when Eraserhead told them that the whole expulsion thing was a ploy to get them to do their best though. Still, it was more likely than not that their teacher just changed his mind halfway through after seeing the determination the curly-haired boy with the odd Quirk showed.

Seaweed Head was given a clinic pass to go get his swollen finger looked at, and the rest of them were told to pick up a syllabus from the classroom and then pack up.

Sesera walked back to the changing rooms with the other girls, and the invisible girl and the pink girl were chatting up a storm, talking about inviting everyone to an outing for some sort of class bonding session. It would've been troublesome to refuse them, so instead she changed and scrammed as fast as she could.

When she arrived at the classroom, there were a few of the guys idling around, talking amongst themselves. She headed straight for the teacher's desk, where a pile of papers lay neatly in the middle. Sesera picked up one of the stapled stacks and began flipping through the pages.

Halfway through her perusal, the delinquent came up behind her and grabbed a stack of his own, skimming through the first page before shoving it into his bag and walking away.

"Hey."

He didn't seem to be in the best of moods, if the murderous look and rough " _Aah?_ " he threw her were anything to go by.

"You said Midoriya-kun was Quirkless. What did you mean by that?"

She'd gathered from the test that they knew each other even before entering Yuuei. The easiest explanation for the delinquent's overreaction to Seaweed Head's power showcase during the throwing activity was that the latter had just been keeping it a secret from him.

But there wasn't really any fathomable motive for a young boy to lie about not having a Quirk, especially to someone who would use it as a way to demean him. Sesera didn't know how far their acquaintanceship went, but Seaweed Head didn't seem like the type to lie or hide things, and neither did the delinquent.

Still, Quirklessness was a clinically determined condition, and it was particularly rare among the latest generations, especially in an insulated island country like Japan. Quirkless people were differentiated from normal people because their bodies simply weren't able to stimulate the production of the Plus Alpha factor that controlled Quirks. This was an absolute physical barrier that couldn't be overcome just because someone snapped their fingers.

If Midoriya Izuku only recently got a Quirk, then that was practically a miracle in itself. Quirks manifested at ages four or five at the latest, and while there were passive Quirks that weren't really obvious until certain conditions in later life were met, people clinically deemed Quirkless suddenly getting Quirks of their own was the stuff of urban legends.

It was the kind of conspiracy theory that Dr. Tokudome and the researchers at the Institute tried their hands at.

The crease between the delinquent's brows furrowed even deeper. "The hell do you care, bitch?"

Sesera paused, considering her options. After seeing how he had to be forcefully held back by a veteran Pro Hero like Eraserhead, she decided that this explosive boy's wrath wasn't quite worth the satisfaction of her usual nosiness.

"...Just curious," she shrugged.

"Deku is a fucking pebble." The delinquent practically spat out the name. He was looking at her, but it seemed like he was saying the words to himself. "I dunno who he blew to get here, but that damned nerd doesn't fucking deserve to be."

Sesera blinked. "Okay."

He scowled at her blasé answer, turning away with a harrumph and making a beeline for the exit.

Once he was gone, she neatly slipped the syllabus into a folder to make sure it wouldn't crease. Zipping her bag back up, she returned the farewells that had been thrown at her before exiting the classroom.

And thus ended Miyaka Sesera's first day at Yuuei High School.

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 _ **Last Edit:**_ _5 Aug 18_


	2. HEROES vs VILLAINS

**note1:** I'd fill this part with excuses consisting of everything that's happened to me for the last two months, but tbh it all boils down to the fact that I had to rewrite the fight _eight frickin' times_ just to get to something I'm mildly satisfied with. So, I'm throwing this out here now, and here's to hoping I don't regret it later. (Or, _y'know_ , rewrite it again completely.)

 **note2:** Fyi, I've combined and edited the previous first and second chapters into one. Nothing's changed much, but a quick re-read to remind you of stuff might be good.

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 _ **ii.**_ **HEROES vs VILLAINS**

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Yuuei was, first and foremost, a training ground for Heroes, and so it made sense that the next generation's most anticipated persons would learn from the best of the best.

Sesera had heard some of the rumors last year, but it was the kind of thing she dedicatedly overlooked, so it had slipped her mind until today. To think that it truly was the Number 1 Hero himself teaching them the foundations of being Heroes—it was an altogether surreal experience.

All Might slid open the door to Class 1-A's room with much gusto, the bright red cape of his Silver Age costume wrapping around him.

"I am—" he exclaimed as he entered, "— _heeere!_ "

Whispers abounded in the classroom of how different seeing him in real life was, but all Sesera could think about was how he was sucking every ounce of energy from the air and leaving none for others. It didn't help that she was hyperaware of his every movement, and processing his very presence took up a large part of her mental faculties.

Watching him prance around was quickly making her tired.

All Might sauntered towards the front of the class, striking a pose before continuing to speak without skipping a single beat. "I will be in charge of your Foundational Hero Studies! Here, we'll be building up your Hero Foundation through various Trials! For today, we'll be jumping right into the Trial of Battle!"

The charged energy from everyone's excitement filled the classroom at the prospect of _battle_. Pitting Quirk against Quirk was the essence of Heroics, but it was difficult to create a controlled environment for its safe practice. If there was one thing that Yuuei stood out for, it was the high-level combat proficiency displayed by their students and graduates.

Recovery Girl was the biggest pillar that supported the school's Plus Ultra philosophy, but the presence of Heroes like Eraserhead, Midnight, and Snowdrop in their faculty was also critical. Raising Heroes was equivalent to developing living weapons—neutralization ability and careful vigilance were the most important aspects of the work.

In that sense, her being put under Eraserhead's watchful eye was no question.

"Moving on, to go with your first battle, we've had the gear you requested delivered for you!" All Might pointed a remote to the far wall and a series of shelves slid out, containing numbered cases in clear, hard plastic compartments. "Come and get them, boys and girls!"

Everyone excitedly ran to the front, eager to get a look at their new Hero costumes. Sesera waited for the stampede to clear out before getting up to grab the case with a big '19' slapped on it.

Once everyone had their costumes in hand, All Might told them to go change and then head out to Ground Beta, where the trial would be held.

Heading over to the locker room, she and the other girls changed into their Hero costumes. Sesera never put in a request for any sort of equipment, but she had a fairly good idea of what was supplied to her.

Inside the case was a cool gray bodysuit made of the same semiconducting fabric as her undershirt. It had white and electric blue accents, and the long gloves and thigh-high boots that completed the outfit were a deep purple.

The equipment in the case included a non-collapsible version of her usual baton and a pair of white bracers that were essentially lightweight laser guns. There was a connector for the bracers to her regulator as well. Lastly, there was a belt with a pouch of steel balls she could use as bullet projectiles, and another empty pouch she could put her regulator's main unit in.

It was a barebones set consisting of only her utmost necessary gear. Reading through the instruction manual included confirmed that everything had been manufactured and registered through Miyaka Manufacturing, LLC, but it looked like her most powerful device hadn't been included.

"Oooh! Miyaka-san, you look so cool!"

A pair of gloves hovered in the air to her right, and Sesera couldn't help but think that Invisible Girl must've been cold.

"It looks super high-tech! You're like an android that came right from the future!" the other girl exclaimed, jutting out a thumb. "It totally suits you!"

"Your costume looks like it'd really let you use your Quirk to its fullest," Sesera found herself saying in reply, but even then she had to wonder if that could even count as a compliment.

"Thanks! That's what I was going for," the invisible girl replied heartily, her gloves balling into fists in front of where Sesera supposed her chest would've been. "I bet the boys're gonna come out guns ablazin' but I'll do my best to stand out!"

"...good luck...?"

At that, Invisible Girl bounded away to Frog Girl, who had just finished changing, to gush over the other girl's outfit.

Sesera had never been all that good with light manipulation, and while Invisible Girl's Quirk would probably be good reference for her, she was a little too upbeat compared to the people she was used to. She had close to no idea how to handle that sort of personality, so she figured she'd work her way up to it.

Shaking her head, she closed her costume case and slipped it into the locker. Hanging her blouse to prevent any creases, she pulled out her pillbox from her skirt before hanging it as well. Sesera popped a blue and white capsule into her mouth before closing the locker door.

It took a bit longer than changing into PE uniforms did, but once everyone was done, they headed out to the grounds. All Might wasn't there when they started arriving, but he appeared soon after everyone had gathered.

"Shall we begin, you embryos?" the Number 1 Hero yelled, pumping a fist into the air. He was met by an enthusiastic reply from around half of the class. "We'll be doing indoor battle training today! You'll be split into pairs, and then you'll face off in two-on-two clashes!"

As All Might finished his spiel, a handful of people raised their hands, blurting out questions and comments all at once. He seemed rather rattled by the onslaught, his hands forming fists and shaking visibly.

He might have been the Number 1 Hero, but he clearly wasn't the Number 1 Teacher.

All Might pulled out a small piece of paper from a pocket in his suit and began reading from it.

"Listen up now! This is the plot: the Villains will be hiding a nuclear weapon in their hideout, and the Heroes have to go in and take care of it!" their teacher read aloud. "The Heroes have a limited amount of time to either capture the Villains or secure the weapon. The Villains must either capture the Heroes or protect the weapon until time is up."

The situation was easy enough to understand, if not a bit of a clichéd storyline. There was a variety of tactics that could be employed depending on which side they ended up on, but it was essentially a race against the clock.

"Finally, your battle partners will be decided by drawing lots!" All Might announced, holding out a box with a hole on top.

"Is that really the best way!?" exclaimed the guy in full white armor. Based on the voice, it sounded like it was Glasses in there.

"It makes sense," commented the boy in the green suit. Ah, that one sounded like Seaweed Head. Looking at the rabbit ear-like things on his costume, it was likely homage to All Might. Now that she thought about it, he must've been a fan since their Quirks were pretty similar. "Pros often have to team up with Heroes from other agencies on the spot during emergencies."

"Ah, I see!" Glasses nodded, realizing his point. Bowing a perfect ninety degrees, he exclaimed, "I apologize for getting ahead of myself. My mistake! Please carry on!"

"It's fine, it's fine," All Might held out a hand. "Now then! Let's start!"

He handed the lottery box to Glasses, who stood closest to him. From him, it got passed around until everyone was able to draw lots.

"Ahh... ummm... uhhh..."

Midoriya Izuku stuttered, struggling to speak as Sesera approached him with the small matte disc bearing a bold, black 'A' held between her fingers.

"Good to be working with you," she greeted casually and he threw her a stiff smile in return.

"A-Ahh! Yes! Same here!" he said, quickly bowing a rigid forty-five degrees. "Please take care of me!"

Considering they both had Quirks with severe rebounds, that was going to be a tall order. Seaweed Head probably wasn't going to be able to use his Quirk much, so Sesera would be left with a lot of the heavy lifting.

Ah, well. As long as they weren't put up against troublesome people like the delinquent or Endeavor Jr., she could probably take care of it without much difficulty.

"Midoriya-kun, was it?"

"Y-Y-Yes! My name is Midoriya Izuku!" he said, bowing stiffly. He was being excessively formal even though they were the same age. True, she had some centimeters on him, but the lidded gaze behind his mask as he looked up at her was nervous and just a bit irritating. "And, umm, y-you're, uhh, Miyaka Sesera... -san, right?"

"Just call me Miyaka."

"Yes, of course!" he twiddled with his fingers, eyes shifting from side to side.

It was kind of hard to believe that this kind of timid and meek personality had been fostered in him despite the obvious raw power of his Quirk. The mystery behind his ability nipped at her curiosity, but interacting with him like this, she didn't feel much motivation to deal with him.

She blamed her lack of energy on All Might.

"Moving on then!" their teacher shouted once everyone had greeted their partners. "First up will be... Team A as the Heroes! And Team D will be the Villains!"

Seaweed Head stilled as the announcement was made and his eyes darted to the side, meeting the intense gaze of the spiky-haired delinquent. From where Sesera stood, she could see the explosive boy looking at them, a dangerous grin splitting his face.

 _Well, shit._

"The Villains will be entering the designated building first. There will be a five-minute interval for both sides to make any preparations they see fit," All Might started reading from his cheat sheet again. "The Heroes will have fifteen minutes to either capture the Villains or retrieve the nuclear weapon! The rest of us will be watching via CCTV!

"Let's begin the training!"

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Sesera studied the building blueprints All Might had given them, and beside her Midoriya Izuku did the same. The Villain pair had already entered the building, and they, the Heroes, were waiting outside of it until their five-minute prep time ran out.

If the situation had been as straightforward as it was made to seem, then Sesera could've just remotely disabled the nuclear weapon and they'd be done in two seconds flat. But in the end, this was a test of combat ability and teamwork, so the heavy-handed, obvious answer wasn't the one All Might or the school was looking for.

She was pretty much out of her element with this activity. Dealing with people had never been her strong suit.

"You're familiar with both of them, right? Do you have any sort of strategy in mind?" Sesera asked the nervous-looking boy.

"I'm not all too familiar with Iida-kun's abilities actually, but Kacchan... is strong," Seaweed Head said. His eyes were trained onto the blueprints in his hand but it was easy to see that his mind was on something else. "This isn't going to be easy."

It was all too clear that the two of them had bad blood between them, and though getting in between their rivalry didn't sound the least bit appealing, practically speaking, compared to her partner, Sesera stood a better chance against the explosive delinquent.

He was the top scorer of the Hero Course's entrance exam, and he was third on yesterday's appraisal test. The idle thought of, _"He's strong,"_ was at the forefront of her impression of him, but she'd seen plenty of strong people before, and he didn't stand out among them in any particular way.

But she supposed that to Midoriya Izuku, his rival was larger than life.

Peering at the expression on his freckled face, she asked, "Shall I take him on then?"

"He's a jerk, but he's amazing," Seaweed Head admitted a bit scornfully, the piece of paper in his hand crinkling in his grip. "Miyaka-san has a versatile and powerful Quirk, but in a real fight, Kacchan won't be easy to take on. He's... really something else."

Statistically, in the current society filled with people with all sorts of bizarre abilities, only around five percent of the population had Quirks that could really be considered 'superpowers.' When the 'extraordinary' becomes 'ordinary,' then of course the standard for what was truly 'extraordinary' changes.

Despite how they were being thrown around, those words were actually defined by very concrete numerical values.

The delinquent was arrogant and boastful, but his confidence in himself wasn't entirely baseless. Sesera would readily admit that he likely had more trust and control in his skill than she did in hers, but that sort of thing was a matter of percentages.

Raw power was, naturally, measured in raw numbers.

"Then, do you think _you_ can beat him?" she asked.

Seaweed Head stopped his mumbling and his dark eyes bore into hers. There was a complicated expression on his face. He probably innately understood that between the two of them, she would be the better matchup for the delinquent. His grasp over his Quirk was mediocre at best, and with his tendency to get injured at the drop of a hat, adding explosions to mix was probably a very bad idea.

"This is a two-on-two battle," Seaweed Head started. There was solid conviction in his words as he continued speaking, "but they won't be working together. They'll definitely split up. Kacchan will come for me. It's a chance for him to beat me up, and after yesterday's appraisal test, he's not going to let that pass. In that case, Iida-kun will be left to defend the weapon on his own.

"I... don't know enough about Iida-kun to face him head on, and I still have difficulty in regulating my Quirk," he said, staring at his gloved hands. He shifted his gaze to meet hers and she froze at the determination she saw. "Miyaka-san, you deal with Iida-kun and secure the weapon. While I... I will distract Kacchan. I know how he moves, so I should be able to do something without hurting myself too much."

Sesera found herself a bit surprised. Despite how afraid he acted of and how highly he talked about his rival, it seemed Seaweed Head thought he stood a chance against the delinquent after all.

She figured it was only reasonable, considering the kind of Quirk he had.

"And also..." Seaweed Head gave her a smile that was all too familiar. "I don't wanna keep losing to him."

Chips of emerald green pierced her, and she felt a chill run down her spine. Her wide-eyed expression looked back at her, a crystal clear image reflected in his eyes.

Grasping at the safety lock on her bracers, Sesera made sure that they were in place. It... wouldn't do to lash out on her own partner. Despite how she did things, Dr. Tokudome had taught her that internal discord was best fanned in the enemies' camp, not your own.

All Might's voice echoed in their earpieces, announcing that the battle would soon begin.

" _Ten seconds to start!_ " their teacher shouted. " _Nine seconds! Eight! Seven!_ "

Sesera turned away from him, stretching her hands in front of her, "Let's do this then."

"Yeah," Midoriya nodded.

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They headed towards a window on the first floor, and once the timer started running, Seaweed Head opened it and hopped in, Sesera following in right after.

Like the blueprints indicated, the inside of the building was a mess of corridors, with lots of blind corners. She and Seaweed Head carefully moved towards the stairs, on guard for the surprise attack that was sure to be launched against them.

It didn't take too long. Barely three minutes in and two turns away from the staircase, the delinquent suddenly leapt out from the corner they were about to head into, an explosion sparking in his open palm.

Seaweed Head had quicker reflexes than she expected, and he immediately turned around, moving to tackle her to the ground to dodge the delinquent's attack.

"Miyaka-san!"

Still, after everything he'd said, she was expecting the blitz attack and had had more than ample time to prepare for it. She grabbed Seaweed Head by the shoulder and pushed him down behind her. Raising her other arm, she aimed the end of her bracer at the delinquent, shooting out the blast of electricity she'd been charging it with for this very moment.

"Fucking bitch!" The delinquent met her attack head on with his own explosion and the impact threw him back into the hall he had come from. She and Seaweed Head would've been blasted away as well if she hadn't magnetized herself to the spot and held her partner down.

Smoke filled the corridor they were in, but she could still somewhat see the delinquent's silhouette behind it. He ended up closer than she thought he would, and that told her he'd been able to match the power of her attack better than she expected.

Sesera had never fought normal people before, so she wasn't quite sure how much power to use, but perhaps that had been a little too weak. It figured that the delinquent could take a hit.

"Sorry about that," Sesera said as she let go of her hold on Seaweed Head's shoulder. He rose a bit unsteadily, coughs escaping from him. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah, I'm good..." he started, getting to his knees. "What about you?"

"I'm fine," she replied, and they both stood back up. "He's not down yet though. Keep your guard up."

"R-Right...!"

Red sparks flashed behind the thick cloud that filled the corridor, and Sesera readied herself for the next attack, whipping out her baton and gathering her power.

"Hiding behind girls now, are ya, Deku!?"

The delinquent suddenly blasted forward, clearing a path in the smoke as he jumped at them once more.

Snapping her wrist forward, a long whip of lightning cracked against the floor, singeing its surface as the delinquent deftly maneuvered to avoid it. The nuanced control he had over his Quirk and the high mobility it resulted in caught her off guard, and by the time she realized it, she was within range for one of his blasts.

"Eat this, bitch!"

"Miyaka-san!"

But before the delinquent could blow her face off, Seaweed Head suddenly leapt out from behind her, catching their opponent by his grenade-shaped bracer mid-flight. Using the delinquent's momentum, he twisted himself around and threw his opponent back into his side of the hall.

Part of Seaweed Head's mask had been caught up in the small blast the delinquent made after grabbing onto his head when he had been caught. If it'd been any bigger of an explosion, he'd probably have burned part of her partner's scalp off.

The delinquent's control really was disgustingly impeccable, and with that last attack, she was starting to understand why Seaweed Head begrudgingly looked up to him.

As of this moment, she kind of did too.

But the fact that Seaweed Head's counter-tactic worked so perfectly seemed to stun both himself and the delinquent so much that neither of them really moved for a few seconds.

Sesera took the temporary pause in battle to recompose herself. Quickly hacking into the CCTV system that had been set up, she found the weapon in the northern room of the fifth floor, and Glasses was busily pacing in front of it, unaware of the current situation.

He was easily the most isolated piece, and she figured the delinquent wouldn't bother giving him regular updates. If she managed to slip away now, she could take down Glasses, grab the weapon, and this entire farce of an exercise would be over and done with.

But the staircase was past the delinquent's side of the hall, and she had the feeling that he wasn't as shortsighted as he appeared to be. She wouldn't be able to sneak away that easily, so she needed to create a distraction first.

Reaching into the pouch hanging from her belt, she grabbed a single steel ball and loaded it into one of the cartridges on her right bracer. The delinquent seemed to notice her movement, and his eyes narrowed on her as electricity ran down the length of her arm.

" _Fuck_ you—"

She shot the makeshift bullet at the floor in front of him, blowing it to bits. She was careful to use just enough power and aim it at a distance he could still avoid, and a cloud of dust filled the hall once more.

"Midoriya, I'll secure the weapon," Sesera quickly said to her partner as she moved for the staircase. "Take care of him."

Seaweed Head's attention snapped to her, and he nodded.

"Okay! Leave it to me!"

"You think you can take me on alone, huh, Deku?" the delinquent's voice echoed from behind the smoke. "You're just a piece of shit! You'll be all over the floor when I'm done stomping on you!"

His control of his Quirk was certainly admirable, but his command over words was less than. He definitely needed to work on his metaphors.

"I'm not gonna be the Deku who can't do anything any more," Seaweed Head started, sliding one foot forward and bringing his fisted hands up into a textbook fighting pose, readying himself for their inevitable brawl. "I'll be the Deku who always does his best!"

"You're seriously fucking pissing me off," the delinquent snarled.

With them so focused on each other, Sesera used the opportunity to slip away. Sticking to the wall, she ran down the corridor to pass the delinquent and duck into the staircase.

At least, that had been the plan.

"Miyaka-san, watch out!"

The delinquent swiped his hand to the side just before the actual explosion, but the force from it still threw her back and Sesera crumpled against the wall, her head banging hard against it. She automatically cut off all haptic feedback when she realized there was no avoiding his attack, but she could still smell the burning tips of her hair and the iron taste of blood in her mouth.

Electricity fizzled across the surface of her skin, and her vision blurred. She had to prioritize upkeep of her organ functions, and that left just barely enough of her focus to containing her Quirk.

The delinquent stood a few feet away, another explosion sparking in his hand.

"And you're pissing me off just as much," he snarled at her, the gleam in his red eyes all too familiar.

He wasn't too far away, but the dust cloud was enough to distort his figure in her muddled mind. A large hand reached out from above her to put her in place.

 _ **...please stop.**_

No one moved.

It took Sesera a full second to realize what she'd done before immediately redirecting her power. The lights overhead flickered before the glass bulbs shattered, and everything went black.

"What the hell!?"

"I'll secure the weapon, you hold off the delinquent," Sesera told Midoriya through their communicator.

" _Miyaka-san? That was you?_ " The surprise in Midoriya's voice waned as realization struck him. " _Ah, yes, of course! You can leave it to me. Good luck!_ "

Sesera cut off their connection there, unable to maintain her power. Electricity coursed throughout her entire body, heating her blood to boiling point. She felt like fiery flames were eating her from the inside out, and the excess electricity flared from the surface of her suit, scorching the floor and walls around her. Her palms were flat on the step before her, and she was hunched over herself, trying to regain control.

She wasn't supposed to use her power on humans.

"I'm... sorry..." Sesera breathed out, blobs of tears forming in the corners of her eyes. "I'm sorry. I'm sorry, I'm sorry. I won't... do it... again..."

Her Quirk support device finally kicked in once it registered her temperature spike, and it automatically injected her with enough downer to put her Quirk under control. It took Sesera a full minute just to stop the excessive power generation, and by that time, there was less than four minutes left on the clock.

Spots of black dotted her distorted vision, unsupported by her Quirk. The wild amount of electricity that had threatened to fry her insides was now evenly thrumming just underneath her skin, like a constant, irritating itch she couldn't get rid of.

 _That's more like it._

Placing a hand against the wall, her vision cleared up once she started seeing through the CCTV system. Most of the cameras on the first and second floors had been fried by her earlier power surge, but she immediately found Glasses still guarding the weapon on the fifth floor.

The building suddenly shook underneath her feet, and she fell forward, just barely catching herself. It seemed that the battle downstairs was about to reach its climax as well.

Three minutes.

She overlaid her memory of the blueprints they were given onto the compound image she'd made using the footage she got from the CCTV. She unsteadily walked over to a position she estimated would be right under where the fake nuclear device was placed and aimed her bracer towards the ceiling.

The light beam easily blasted away part of the remaining three storeys. Extending her senses, Sesera realized that the fake nuclear weapon was actually some sort of papier-mâché on a steel wire frame, and with a quick tug, it toppled over the floor and into the hole she'd made.

"Whoa—!"

But since it was only papier-mache on a steel wire frame, Glasses easily grabbed it and carried it away.

"That straitlaced four-eyes..." she muttered to herself. She tugged harder on the weapon, but somewhere up there, Glasses was working against her.

A shiver went down her spine and Sesera paused, a cold sweat running down the back of her neck. The building shook again, and just a ways away, the floor suddenly opened, debris shooting upwards. The floor tilted, and she dropped down to her knees to keep her balance.

"Midoriya...?"

Only now did she realize that her comm device was wrecked, and she ripped the useless thing out of her ear and used her own power to connect to her partner.

"Midoriya, are you okay?"

" _Miyaka-san...? I'm... so glad you're... okay..._ " Seaweed Head's voice was low and his tone was haggard and breathy. It was clear that he was struggling to speak and in obvious pain. " _You haven't... been responding... since earlier..._ "

Sesera let out a breath. "Was that you just now?"

" _I got... a bit... desperate..._ " There was an undertone of a laugh in his voice. " _I was worried... something might have... happened... to you... so I... wanted... to help... but Kacchan... wouldn't... let me... go..._ "

"I—" _don't need your help_ , rested at the tip of her tongue, but she managed to swallow her words. "I'll finish this now. You don't need to do anything any more."

 _"You don't have much time left."_

Focusing her senses, she searched for the metal of the fake weapon's frame and latched on to it. Raising her arm, she swiped it to the side, clenching her hand into a fist before bringing it down.

"ARGH!"

The fake nuclear weapon nosedived into the hole she had made, Glasses clutching on to its body for dear life.

Unclenching her hand, the wire frame broke through the papier-mache and pushed Glasses away. He rolled a bit across the floor and Sesera fisted her hand once more.

The nuclear weapon collapsed into itself.

"Aaahh! The weapon!" Glasses wailed as he saw what happened.

All Might's voice suddenly resonated all around them. " _The weapon has been—well, utterly destroyed! The Heroes wiiinnn!_ "

At the proclamation, Sesera's shoulders slumped forward in defeat and she let out a long breath. That was entirely too much effort for one measly win. This kind of feeling of helplessness wasn't exactly new to her, but it seemed like an eternity ago since she last felt it.

 _"You mustn't become like that."_

For the longest time, heavy-handing things and taking shortcuts had been her way of doing things. Back when she had control of her Quirk, and people who wanted to help her. When she was ignorant and safe inside her gilded cage.

When the windowless building wasn't wreathed in flames, and she didn't have any hopes of salvation.

 _"You have your father's eyes."_

Everything started bleeding red.

"Battles truly are decided in just one 'moment.' Well fought, Miyaka-kun," Glasses stepped forward, cradling his helmet in the crook of his arm as he extended his other hand to her. "I believe a 'congratulations' is in or—are you alright!?"

He reached out to her in alarm as Sesera swayed in place. Bowing her head, she saw spots of red filling her still blurry vision.

She didn't realize she was looking at her own blood until Glasses pointed it out to her.

"Your nose is bleeding! Are you truly fine!?"

Bringing her hand up, she wiped away the blood on the cold metal of her bracer. Its white surface was smeared with red.

"It happens all the time," she replied.

"That's not very comforting either," Glasses shot back with a frown. Listlessly glancing around, he asked, "Where are Midoriya-kun and Bakugou-kun?"

"Still at the first floor, probably."

"Then let us head down the stairs," Glasses spoke, extending his arm towards the staircase to their left. "Come now, All Might-sensei is instructing us to return to the observation building as soon as possible."

They made their way down the stairs and were met with a scene of carnage. Walls and part of the second storey had been blown away, and wreckage covered the floor.

The delinquent stood closest to the staircase. He looked fairly uninjured, but his usually proud hunch was drooping down heavily. Though she couldn't quite see the expression on his face since his back was to them, she figured he took quite some mental damage.

Across him, Seaweed Head was on knees, cradling a seriously broken arm in his good hand. His costume was in pieces and he looked about ready to keel over.

"Midoriya-kun! What on earth happened to you!?" Glasses was by his side in an instant, inspecting his wounds. "Sit down and keep your arm still. There are emergency responder robots on the way. They'll take you to the clinic."

"It... looks worse that it really is." Seaweed Head seemed to have regained some breath, though his face was still scrunched up in obvious pain.

"That is definitely as bad as it looks," Glasses refuted, and Seaweed Head smiled sheepishly as the other boy fretted over him. Looking up at her, a crease formed between his brows. "Are _you_ okay, Miyaka-san? I'm sorry to have left all the work to you."

"There's really no need for you to apologize. _I'm_ sorry for not settling things sooner—"

Sesera broke off at the ominous crack that echoed over her heads, and looking up, she saw a torrential rain of wreckage started falling over their heads.

 _All that's missing is the fire._

Blue-white sparks flared from Sesera's temples.

"SMAAAAASHHH!"

She was thrown back by a strong gust of wind, and Sesera felt her body slam into the still standing remains of the wall. The impact muddled her mind a bit, and for a split second, an intense pain wracked her body. But as naturally as breathing, she managed to immediately cut her brain off from all nervous feedback. She couldn't even feel her arms shaking as she pushed herself up, trying to get a good look at the sight in front of her.

In the middle of a rubble-free patch of ground was All Might, every contour of his broad back clear in her eyes. He had an arm stretched out to the sky, like he intended to punch the gods out of heaven itself.

 _"You must not become like_ that _."_

"Fear not, young students! For I am here!" he announced, facing them with a wide and brilliant smile. "Wahahahaha!"

Her mother stood in front of her once more, the sun at her back drenching her silhouette in a golden glow. There were hands gripping her shoulders and shaking her. There was a moving mouth that was spewing out words, but at that moment, no matter how hard she wracked her brain, Sesera couldn't remember what her mother looked like.

The hands around her shoulders moved upwards, clamping down on her neck.

 _"You..._ _ **mus**_ _—bec—e_ li _..._ _ **ke**_ _th—_ aat _."_

Choking on air, she doubled over and clawed at the collar around her neck. Her frenzied scratching soon broke skin, and the blood that dripped out was boiling.

"Hey, wait...! Miyaka-san is—!"

Before she knew it, her hands were wrenched away from her neck and when she looked up, the sky was the bluest she had ever seen.

All Might hovered over her with no smile on his face, and she could see herself in his eyes.

The Number 1 Hero stood at the forefront, with nothing but the infinite chasm of evil he faced reflected in his eyes.

"Forgive me," he whispered bleakly, just before everything went black.

.

.

.

She had been enclosed inside a pure white box about eight feet across and twelve feet high. Other than the softness of the bed underneath her and the faint hum of some sort of machine, she hadn't really been able to sense anything else while her Quirk was being contained.

The lack of sensory information had made her feel peaceful, and she had wondered if this was what eternal sleep was like.

It'd felt all too sudden when the smell of soot and ash invaded her nose, and a bright crop of red smeared across the white landscape.

 _"What's your name?"_

She'd blinked at his white-swathed form drearily, his features slowly coming into focus. His rough voice felt like something she'd heard before, like something out of a distant memory. It grated against her skin like sandpaper, smoothing out all her faults.

Clearing her mind.

She hadn't been able to answer.

 _"Your mother,"_ he'd elaborated, realizing her predicament. _"What did she call you?"_

That's the one thing she could never forget.

She'd looked into his chipped blue eyes and replied without hesitation.

 _"_ **Monster.** _"_

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 _ **Last Edit:**_ _5 Aug 18_

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 **freetalk:**

showichi . tumblr . com

^ contains visual gifts/apologies/thanks for everyone who's been monitoring this story. Still mostly under construction, but I'll be using it as a general platform for extra material & content that's not part of the actual story. I don't like cluttering the chapters with too much stuff, personally. And if you have any questions, thoughts, or just want someone to talk to, feel free to poke me there!


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